


Brave

by happyxwalsh



Series: Season 3 [9]
Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Depressing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 10:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16094060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyxwalsh/pseuds/happyxwalsh
Summary: Connor is a very brave soul, he’s survived through hurricanes of hell, but no one could have prepared him for the hurricane that would be coming his way.





	Brave

_Oh, I’m trying._  
I’m just trying to be brave.  
\- Brave by Riley Pearce

                 -•-•-•-

Connor is a very brave soul, he’s survived through hurricanes of hell, but no one could have prepared him for the hurricane that would be coming his way. The law student is out grabbing some files for Annalise, while a woman with two children are walking through the clinic’s doors. “Uh, hi, excuse me but do you know where I can find Connor Walsh?” The K5 are incredibly confused, but intrigued.

“We’re his friends, who are you?” Michaela politely answers back.

“I’m Gemma, his sister, and these kids are his niece and nephew,” Oliver’s ears light up, he finally met someone from Connor’s family... in a way.

Then, almost like on cue, Connor walks in with a stack of files and can’t believe who’s in front of him. “Gemma? What are you doing here?” His niece and nephew charge at him, making him drop the files on the floor. They hug him so tight that he forgets that he’s even in the clinic for a moment. After he lets go, he heads over to Gemma so she can explain.

“Mom’s in the hospital, so you have to do me a favour and look after the kids for me,” The younger man’s heart hurts at what he just heard.

“Is she okay?”

Gemma leans over to whisper in Connor’s ear. Their mom tried to kill herself; it happened again and broke Connor’s heart all over. His friends faces show concern, they may not have hear what Gemma said but by the law student’s face they don’t need to know exactly what happened to realise that it’s bad. “I’ll look after them, call me with updates and tell her I love her.”

“Will do,” Gemma quickly murmured, before hugging her children goodbye and leaving. The law student watches her go, feeling the stress set in. His mom could die and now he has to look after some kids all by himself.

“You okay?” Oliver asks, immediately regretting it, “sorry, that was stupid.”

“No, it’s fine. I just need to figure out what to do with them.”

“Why don’t you stay with me? We can sleep on the couch and they can have the bed. Let me help you,” The older man smiles, making it more difficult to say no.

“Thank you, Ollie-“

“Wait, this is uncle Ollie?” His niece overhears and skips over smiling, “I’m Leah, my uncle talks a lot about you,” The hacker is speechless, Connor calls him ‘uncle Ollie’ to them. His heart is melting.

“Oh yeah, everyone, this is Leah and Leon. Leah and Leon, this is Michaela, Asher, Laurel, Wes, and that’s obviously Oliver,” the younger man points out, remembering he hadn’t introduced everyone yet.

Although, that’s the least of his problems. At least, Oliver will be there to distract him from the crushing sense of anxiety lurking on the surface. If he can just be brave for the next few days, then he’ll be fine.

About an hour later, they all arrive at Oliver’s. The older man heads into the kitchen to make lunch, after turning the tv on, and Connor isn’t too far behind him. “I know that the last few hours were a lot for you, so you can lie down in my bed if you want,” Ollie offers, giving Connor sympathy eyes.

“No, I’m okay... unlike my mom,” The younger man stares down at the floor, his expression draining from his face.

“What happened?”

The law student looks over his shoulder at Leah and Leon, hoping they don’t hear what he’s about to say, and then focuses his eyes on his ex. “She tried to kill herself,” he makes out in a whisper.

“Oh my god, Jesus, I’m sorry,” The hacker comfortingly grabs ahold of his arm. Oliver can’t even begin to imagine how much Connor must be hurting.

“You don’t need to apologise; it’s not your fault, my dad is the one at fault. It was his fault the first time and it is again now.”

“Wait, she’s done this before?” Oliver’s eyes glass over, at the thought of Connor going through this a different time.

“When I was twelve, she had a nervous breakdown and did a stupid thing because of it.”

Oliver understands now, and a part of him wishes he didn’t. Connor’s been so traumatised from such a young age that it’s hard to let people know about that sort of trauma. All Ollie could think is _‘he’s so brave’._

Once night falls, and they’ve all had their dinner, Connor and the older man put the kids to bed. While the law student is reading their bedtime story, Oliver smiles at him. His boyfriend- _ex boyfriend_ is so good with them, it’s endearing. Before they go to bed themselves, Leah and Leon request a goodnight kiss from both their uncles. One kiss each from them, and they head to bed.

They each get a side of the sofa, but they’re still very close to each other. So close that they could kiss if they want to. Their skulls are almost pressed together. “Annalise offered to look after them at some point, by the way,” Connor whispers.

“That’s good because you deserve a break. We can spend that day together, if you want,” through the darkness, the younger man’s lips twist up at the thought of that.

“I’d love that, Ollie. I’m lucky to have you, I don’t think I’d be able to get through this without you because I’m really scared. Like really, _really_ scared,” Oliver moves his left arm to wrap it around Connor’s waist.

“It’s going to be okay,” and with that, the damaged man let’s out a tear roll down and begins sinking into Ollie’s comfort till he falls asleep.

Sunshine peaks through the windows and lightens up the whole apartment. Oliver’s arm is still laying on Connor, which makes a smile escape from the younger man’s lips. He doesn’t have the heart to walk away from this happy feeling. It’s been so long since Connor has felt this way, and he’s scared to risk losing that comfort. “Hey, you okay?” Oliver sleepily sits up, moving his arm away from Connor. The law student feels a little sad that the physical contact stopped, but Oliver’s still here. He’s still with him.

“Totally fine.”

The day seems to go by quick, it’s filled with the kids playing in the park; Connor chasing them around with plastic spoons in his mouth, the hacker is admiring the idea of Connor being like this with kids of their own- not that Oliver misses him. _Definitely_ doesn’t miss him. Same goes with Connor. When he sees Ollie with Leon and Leah, there 100% isn’t an urge to propose to him right then and there. And because they aren’t totally head over heels in love with each other, they can have a picnic without any sentimental value. Of course, these are all lies they told themselves.

By the time they arrive home, smiles are permanently glued on their faces. “I loved today, even if it was like the universe was throwing what we could have had in our faces,” Connor sadly smiles at the last little bit of his sentence.

“Maybe we still can. It’s clearly obvious that we still love each other... so what do you think about trying us again?” The younger man doesn’t say anything back, and just kisses him; sweet and steady.

“Mommy’s going to love this!” Leah squeals, after realising that they started kissing. Both of them pull back, all they can do is laugh at their niece’s comment. A rare moment of perfection engraved itself into history.

A day later, Annalise is looking after Leah and Leon while Connor and Oliver spend the day enjoying each other’s company. Everything feels safe, Connor feels safe. Nothing can ruin that feeling, not anymore.

Until, his phone rings and it’s from Gemma. For Connor, what she says is a big blur. He can only remember two things: Gemma will be picking up the kids in a few hours, and that their mom is dead. The broken man hangs up, completely emotionless. “My mom is dead.”

“Connor-“

“She’s dead, she’s really dead,” as the realisation hits him, his eyes flood with tears and he breaks down. Oliver pulls him to the couch, holds him close, and the younger man sobs into his lap. The next week isn’t much different. Oliver tries to distract him, but he always ends up crying. The K5 and Annalise sent their love, except never in person. They had too many problems at work to help with Connor’s problem.

However, one day they did. Connor needed that comforting group hug they give him as soon as they entered the bedroom. That day ended with a small shot of happiness for him. All of them listened to stories upon stories. Connor in the middle, Michaela on his left, Ollie on his right; Annalise, Wes, Laurel, and Asher at the bottom.

Connor is really grateful for his friends, even if they do some guilt-worthy things together. He didn’t care... he was just happy that he wasn’t alone. Not anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
